Senior Manager, Policy Accelerator and Eyeglasses Initiative (Fixed-Term)

About the Policy Accelerator

The Policy Accelerator advances evidence-based policymaking, strengthens government capacity, and builds a robust ecosystem of actors driving meaningful policy change. The team works across a range of policy areas and geographies, providing technical assistance, facilitating peer learning, and supporting governments in translating policy commitments into action. A core component of the current portfolio is the Eyeglasses Initiative, which supports governments in low- and middle-income countries to integrate eye health and vision care into their national health systems.

Job Purpose

The Senior Manager for the Policy Accelerator and Eyeglasses Initiative will lead government outreach, stakeholder engagement, and program delivery activities that support the Policy Accelerator's efforts to strengthen public policy and implementation outcomes. The role will build and maintain relationships with senior government officials, coordinate and facilitate workshops and learning experiences, provide ongoing support to government partners, and help drive policy development and implementation efforts across participating geographies.

Working closely with program leadership, the position will manage complex stakeholder engagements, support technical assistance initiatives, oversee key programmatic activities, and contribute to donor reporting and communications. The role serves as a critical bridge between government partners, technical experts, and program leadership to ensure the successful execution of policy-focused initiatives and the achievement of program objectives.

This is a full-time position based in New York City and follows a hybrid work schedule, including in-office presence at least two days per week at Vital's New York City office. We offer competitive compensation and a comprehensive benefits package. The salary range for this position is $95,000 -- $105,000. Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire.

Fixed Term/Pending Funding: This position is funded through December 1, 2026 and is currently classified as a temporary role. Continuation beyond that date will be contingent upon securing additional funding.

Duties and Responsibilities

Government Relations and Stakeholder Engagement

• Develop and maintain relationships with national and subnational government officials, ministries, and key stakeholders to support the Policy Accelerator's objectives.
• Identify, engage, and coordinate participation of senior government representatives in Policy Accelerator activities, workshops, and learning opportunities.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for government counterparts, ensuring consistent communication, follow-up, and relationship management.
• Prepare briefing materials, presentations, talking points, and other resources to support engagement with government stakeholders and partners.
• Support ongoing mentorship and follow-up activities with government officials to advance policy development and implementation efforts.

Workshop and Learning Program Management

• Lead the planning and execution of workshops, policy dialogues, trainings, and learning exchanges for government officials and partners.
• Coordinate all logistical aspects of events, including participant outreach, travel arrangements, agenda development, speaker coordination, and workshop materials.
• Collaborate with technical experts and program leadership to co-design workshop content, facilitation approaches, and learning objectives.
• Support workshop facilitation and ensure timely follow-up on commitments, action plans, and next steps following events.

Program Coordination and Technical Support

• Provide project management support for Policy Accelerator activities, including work planning, milestone tracking, and coordination across multiple stakeholders.
• Support governments and partners in advancing policy priorities through technical assistance, resource development, and knowledge-sharing activities.
• Coordinate with internal technical, communications, and operations teams to ensure successful implementation of program activities.
• Conduct policy research, stakeholder mapping, and landscape analyses to inform program planning and engagement strategies.

Communications and Donor Support

• Support the development of reports, presentations, newsletters, policy briefs, and other communications products for donors, partners, and external audiences.
• Contribute to donor reporting by collecting, synthesizing, and communicating program progress, outcomes, and lessons learned.
• Assist with the preparation of materials for leadership engagements, donor meetings, and external presentations.
• Support communications activities that elevate the visibility and impact of the Policy Accelerator's work.

Strategy and Program Development

• Contribute to annual work planning, program strategy development, and identification of new opportunities for partnership and growth.
• Support the design and refinement of tools, resources, and learning products that strengthen government capacity and policy implementation.
• Other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Qualifications

Education and Degree

• Bachelor's degree in Public Policy, International Relations, Public Administration, Political Science, or a closely related field required.

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to communicate with high-ranking government officials, ministers, and external partners, and build reliable relationships across national and sub-national agencies.
• Capable of work-planning, milestone tracking, risk mitigation, and coordinating cross-functional teams.
• High organizational capability to oversee complex event logistics—managing speaker lineups, multi-country participant travel, venue coordination, and agenda timing smoothly.
• Ability to take dense, technical policy research and boil it down into clear, actionable briefing materials, talking points, and landscape analyses.
• Ability to collaborate with subject matter experts to design workshop curricula, learning objectives, and adult-learning experiences that actually stick.
• Skilled at drafting clear, compelling copy for diverse formats—from formal donor progress reports and policy briefs to engaging external newsletters.
• Ability to pull quantitative milestones and qualitative lessons learned from the field and package them into a compelling narrative of programmatic impact.
• Ability to build strong, ongoing, impactful relationships at all organizational levels and across a diverse range of cultural, generational, ethnic, racial, educational, and social backgrounds.
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment.

Experience

Required

• Minimum of eight years of progressive experience working in public policy, government relations, international development, or public administration.
• Proven track record of directly engaging with and managing relationships with senior government officials (at both national and sub-national/ministry levels).
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder programs, including work planning, tracking milestones, and handling donor-funded project logistics.
• Experience facilitating policy dialogues or training sessions for adult learners and government bureaucrats.

Preferred

• Experience in eye health, vision care, primary health care integration, or a related area of global health; candidates with adjacent global health backgrounds who demonstrate strong aptitude for rapid learning in a new technical area will also be considered.
• Experience working inside government or directly with Ministries of Health.
• Experience drafting progress reports, policy briefs, and impact stories specifically for major international donors, foundations, or bilateral agencies.
• Experience working across multiple geographies or international contexts, with the cultural competency required to navigate diverse bureaucratic structures.
• Experience collaborating with technical subject matter experts to translate complex data into accessible capacity-building tools, newsletters, or learning curricula.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

• This role requires a willingness to travel domestically and internationally up to 40% of the time to meet with government partners, attend convenings, and support in-country program activities.
• Candidates should be comfortable working across multiple time zones and collaborating with global teams.

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